Maud Sisley Boyd was the first woman missionary sent by the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Foreign Mission Board. She dedicated her life to sharing her faith around the world, and her legacy of service and commitment continues to inspire today.
Maud Sisley Boyd was the first woman missionary sent by the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Foreign Mission Board.
Maud Sisley was born in 1851, in Kent, England. After her father died, her family went to the United States where they learned about the Adventist message.
A visit by James and Ellen White convinced them to relocate to church headquarters at Battle Creek, Michigan.
Maud was an Adventist member for 10 years when she was called to serve as a missionary. In 1877, she left for Europe where she eventually served in Switzerland and England.
After several years in Europe, Maud returned to the United States in time to attend the second annual session of the General Sabbath School Association held in Battle Creek, Michigan. Here she met another participant, the widower Charles L. Boyd. The couple wed in 1879 and had two daughters.
The Boyds went as part of the first group of Adventist missionaries to Cape Town, South Africa. Tragically, their youngest daughter, Ethel, died at age three and a half in Africa.
The family remained in Africa for about four years before returning to the United States. They reached Battle Creek in time to attend the 1891 General Conference Session.
At this General Conference Session, Charles was asked to become president of the Tennessee River Conference, located in Nashville, Tennessee. The Boyds were early workers in the American South, striving to break down racial barriers in response to Ellen White’s call to do so., They created a church that allowed both black and white members to worship together. In 1898 she and Charles were in Asheville, North Carolina, when Charles died.
After his death, Ellen White invited Maud and her family to Australia to assist with the newly formed Avondale School. Maud was “highly respected as a teacher.” She spent nine years there. Her daughter, Ella, went as a missionary to Tonga, When her sister fell ill, Maud returned to Massachusetts to be closer to her while continuing to conduct Bible work. During the last 17 years of her life, she served as a Bible teacher at the Loma Linda and Glendale Sanitariums in California. She spent one school year teaching at Oakwood Junior College in Alabama. After her sister died, she returned to Australia to live with her daughter, Ella. Here she died in 1937 and was buried next to her mother in the Avondale Adventist Cemetery in Cooranbong, New South Wales.
Maud Sisley Boyd spent her life in service to others, and her legacy lives on to this day. For more stories about pioneer missionaries, visit encyclopedia.adventist.org.
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